Read Online Throy by Jack Vance - Free Book Online

and hand over the money. Then, if the material was trivial or if I felt cheated, I would find some way to get the money back.”
    “Hmm.” Bodwyn Wook nodded. “That is a concept which does both you and Bureau B, and the Bureau B Superintendent credit. Egon Tamm, what is your opinion?”
    “I vote yes.”
    “Scharde?”
    “Yes.”
    Bodwyn Wook turned to Glawen. “You may apprise him of our decision.”
    Glawen rose to his feet, then halted in his tracks. “He is gone!”
    “That is unacceptable conduct!” stormed Bodwyn Wook. “He makes us a proposal, then attempts insolent tricks! I consider him a man without honor!” He made an angry gesture. “Find this man; explain that we cannot allow him to void his contract! Hurry; catch him up! He will not have gone far!”
    Glawen went out into the road and looked to right and left. The cliff loomed high to one side; to the other opened dark space, sighing to far currents of air.
    Glawen walked a hundred yards up the way but came upon no one. Above and below dim yellow lights spangled the sides of the cliff.
    The quest for Kathcar was clearly hopeless. Glawen turned and went back to the inn. In the taproom he noticed Warden Ballinder in earnest conference with a red-bearded young man - the same who had confronted them earlier along edge of the cliff. The young man was speaking with passionate vehemence; Warden Ballinder stood with head bent forward.
    Glawen turned away and went into the dining room, to resume his place at the table.
    Bodwyn Wook asked sharply: “What of Kathcar?”
    “I saw no sign of him, or anyone else.”
    Bodwyn Wook grunted. “He will be back in a few moments, cringing and grinning, his price considerably lower. You’ll see that I was right! I never submit to extortion!”
    Glawen had nothing to say. Wayness jumped to her feet. “I will telephone his home.”
    A moment later she returned. “No one answers. I left an urgent message.”
     Warden Ballinder returned from the taproom, accompanied by the young man with the red beard. Warden Ballinder said: “This is Yigal Fitch. He is a legal practitioner. An hour ago Sir Denzel summoned him, apparently to institute some sort of legal action. Fitch approached Sir Denzel’s house and arrived in time to see Sir Denzel falling from his deck and tumbling out into space. Fitch was horrified. He tried to look up, to see who had launched Sir Denzel. He saw no one, but he was afraid to investigate and ran back here. I telephoned Sir Denzel’s house. The maid knew nothing, except that Sir Denzel was no longer on the premises. Unless Sir Denzel ‘has learned to fly,’ as the saying goes, he is dead.”
     
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Chapter 2
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    Chapter 2, Part I
     
    In the morning, shortly before his return to Araminta Station, Egon Tamm spoke a second time to the folk of Stroma. In this decision he had been influenced by the comments of his daughter Wayness. She had told him: “Your statements were clear and distinct, but you were too formal and not at all friendly.”
    “What?” Egon Tamm was surprised and a bit nettled. “I spoke as Conservator, of whom dignity is expected. Should I tell jokes and dance a jig?”
    “Of course not! Still, you need not have looked so menacing. Some of the old ladies think you are planning to march them off to a penal camp.”
    “That is absurd! I was dealing with a serious subject; I tried to approach it in a suitably serious manner.”
    Wayness shrugged. “I’m sure that you know best. Still, it might be nice if you were to talk to everyone again and explain that Araminta Station is far more comfortable and pleasant than Stroma.”
    Egon Tamm reflected. “It’s not altogether a bad idea - especially since there are one or two points I would like to bring up again.”
    For this second address to the folk of Stroma, Egon Tamm tried to convey the impression that his ordinary temperament was genial and tolerant - as indeed it was. He wore casual clothes and spoke from Warden